The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been affected by globalization in many ways.  The most damaging of these effects can be shown in the recent war in the DRC.  Although there were troops from several African countries—Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, as well as from the DRC—none of the firearms used are made in any of these countries.  Globalization has made it such that firearms from North Korea, Israel, South Africa, Europe, and North America have been used to kill millions (estimated 3 million dead because of this war) in Central Africa.

In many ways, this war in the DRC was a war over mineral resources used in the global economy.  The DRC has valuable deposits of diamonds, coltan, copper, tin, and cassiterite.  Coltan, short for columbite-tantalite, is refined into tantalum, a heat-resistant powder that can hold a high electrical charge and is used to make capacitors for miniature circuit boards.  Tantalum capacitors are used in cell phones, laptops, pagers, nuclear reactors, Play Stations, and computer chips.  Rwanda and Uganda seized control of the coltan areas in the DRC and made as much as $20 million per month as prices for coltan varied from $200 to $400 per kilogram at one point.  Global companies like Nokia and Sony do not have any manufacturing plants in the DRC, but were economically responsible for this war.

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